That’s a good one! If you haven’t played Portal 2 either, I’d highly recommend giving it a go. It’s even better than the original in my opinion. The story is longer and much more complex, and it really nails the post-apocalyptic sci-fi vibe. Been a while since I’ve played it myself. I should give the series another playthrough sometime…
5 Likes
Started playing Tower Unite about 3 months ago, put a total of 101 hours into it. As a matter of fact I dropped Team Fortress 2 for it.
Also have been playing a lot of my PlayStation 2 recently. Managed to beat Gran Turismo Concept 2001 Tokyo, played a little bit of Burnout Revenge and more than a little bit of Burnout Dominator.
6 Likes
Next weekend, I’m definitely loading it up!
Even more shamefully, I started it before, but never finished it.
5 Likes
The game is stressful in that it’s chaos gun fire
2 Likes
I’ve been playing A Plague Tale: Innocence and Ghost of a Tale recently. Both games are what I’d described as “hide and seek” with some exploration and RPG.
The 1st one is about a girl set on a path to protect her brother during the 14th century plague. It’s a French game (the same studio that made Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020) so you’re off for some good graphics. The music is very good. The French version is very nice, I don’t know about the English one (I usually play games in original version sorry :p). Gameplay is smooth and story is very good. It’s very gory though.
The second game is about a little minstrel set on a path to find his wife. It’s a game with a complete fantasy story as you play a mouse, there are rats (the “enemies”) but also frog etc. The graphics are nice for such a little game. Music is very good too. English version (only written, there are no voices in this game) is pretty good and then I found out it was also a French game so I switch to muh fancy French ! Gameplay is a bit harder to use as it’s not very intuitive with keyboard but it’s still playable don’t worry. It’s not gory at all even when you get killed.
Both games last about 10 to 15h to complete.
My go to games was The Division 2 but I stopped playing it because the developers thought it was a good idea to stopped implementing new stuff in a game that a lot of people still play for some reasons :facepalm:
I also host a Minecraft server that some of you use 
4 Likes
Pillars of Eternity
Tags: Isometric RPG , Dark Fantasy , Story Rich , Choices Matter
Pillars of Eternity (plus Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire) holds the honor of being on my Favorite Games List™! Finished my second playthrough of it last weekend, and I’m happy to say I still find it enjoyable! 
Its story, companions, and player interactions with the world were what shone in my eyes. Combat is decent (or perhaps I simply succ at it 
), though I found I very much missed Tyranny’s flexible spellcrafting and spellcasting mechanics. Unlike Tyranny, however, Pillars of Eternity is a significantly longer play – according to Steam, I’ve clocked about 70-80 hours into PoE, versus the 40-ish for Tyranny (Note: I have all game expansions for both games).
As a plot-centered and story-driven game, it’s a very text-heavy. Not as intensive as Baldur’s Gate (OG) or Neverwinter Nights, but it’s not a game I recommend for fast-paced, hack-and-slash gamers. For those that enjoy reading and especially reading between the lines, piecing together threads of mystery, I wholeheartedly vouch for this game. 
Companions are a mixed bag of upstanding role-models, lonely friends, and despicable or misunderstood souls. They are different degrees of confident and lost, dutiful and adventurous, amicable and morose, and as expected, they bicker and banter and do not always get along. Despite whatever differences between the companions, however, only their relationship with the Watcher (player character) matters, and it’s the Watcher’s decision whether they remain or leave the party permanently.
- As a collorary, the Watcher may voice dissenting opinions with their companions with little fear of them leaving in a huff (rather open-minded of them, eh?
), or even with the intent to slowly shape and nurture said companion’s character. - Pillars of Eternity does not have a strict relationship scale or system in place, so most of the Watcher’s plot-related decisions do not affect party morale. To use an analogy, it’s more like Mass Effect (with a general Paragon/Renegade scale) and less like Dragon Age (with individual Approval for each companion). Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, however, implements a more dynamic and more individual relationship system.
- In terms of characters whose personalities I found most agreeable: Sagani, Aloth, Edér, Pallegina.
- Aloth, especially, goes through significant character development throughout the game.
- Aloth, Edér, Pallegina return in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, and I recall liking their personalities significantly more in the sequel.
- In terms of characters whose personalities I disliked: Durance.
- No one likes Durance. He’s condescending, vulgar, racist, sexist, judgemental, and a religious fanatic. Not even his favored god escapes his obscenities. I’ve a feeling the devs specifically wrote his character to be as abhorrent as possible, lol.
- Everyone else is amicable enough, but also flawed enough, such that I feel relatively neutral about them.
As most of the game’s plot development is told through text, dialogue choices become the player’s main method of interacting with – and shaping – events as they unfurl in the world. The Watcher may respond with particular dispositions, call upon context from their various racial or cultural backgrounds, or even apply intrinsic class-based knowledge or skills to the conversation (yes, the Watcher’s chosen class affects dialogue options!). Particularly impatient Watchers can also just cut to the chase and attack every person on sight. Literally everyone. 
- Role-playing and steering the Watcher’s personality towards one disposition doesn’t mean other dispositional choices are locked out. A situation sometimes requires a delicate hand for an optimal resolution, and a tactful person may adapt and respond with different facets. A Benevolent Watcher may still make Aggressive choices to minimize casualties, a Passionate Watcher may still react with Stoicism if holding their tongue is the wiser option. Personality is dynamic and impulsive decisions exist, after all!
- As the Watcher progresses through the story, their renown grows, and certain NPCs may sometimes respond to the Watcher’s reputation and personality favorably – or disfavorably.
There’s probably a lot more I could ramble about, but methinks peepos that are interested should try the game out for themselves and experience it first-hand? Seriously, the first-time experience is great – doubly great for a plot-twisty plot like Pillar of Eternity’s.
Currently playing Neverwinter Nights, got it for less than $5 off Fanatical (Neverwinter Nights Bundle is still going on, until June 9/10?) Oldschool-y RPG, also one of my favorites, largely 'cos of nostalgia – it definitely has a tough time holding against modern AAA titles.
(I’m not playing Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire immediately because I neglected one side quest and didn’t get the “Best Ending” I was planning for. And, in my infinite wisdom and arrogance, saved over the point-of-no-return. So. Fuck. Lmao. 
)
6 Likes
Uh oh…
I got the keys to the RenderWare whip.
I’ve made some bad decisions…
And yes, this implies that I’m barely halfway into this game lmao.
8 Likes
RPG MO
Tags: Old-School RPG, Friendly Community, Grinding, Free to Play, 2D Pixel Graphics
RPG MO’s an online multiplayer RPG in the likes of Runescape. Absolutely free to play, and available on Steam, on Android, or in your browser! Trying to think of what the “main aim” of the game would be, but there’s so many different ways players can play it, TBH:
- Level up your combat, gathering, and crafting skills!
- Complete kill / gathering / crafting / boss quests!
- Complete party quests with friendos and climb the Hall of Fame ranks!
- Dominate other players
or die tryingin PvP in No Man’s Land!- Ahahahahahaha…
- Hoard gold by gathering and crafting items to sell on the Player’s Market!
- Safe way to learn small-scale economics in a semi-real life scenario. Value, supply and demand, spend money to make money, pricing competition, etc.
- Invest in or beautify your own Island!
- Or be like me and just #HermitLyfe, hehe.
For the longest time, 'Chew stayed away from MMOs 'cos they have a tendency to attract trolls and other such bad influences. RPG MO piqued my interest 'cos 
, kek, and it was a browser game – I went into it thinking, “Well, I don’t have to download anything, and I’ll probably get bored of it after a few days.”
…Fast-forward one year and three-odd months later, and somehow I’m still playing this game.
Free is what draws newbies to the game. What makes many players stay, tho, is the small but incredibly friendly and supportive community. Theeereee’s also log in incentives, but that’s less important than the active playerbase, IMO. Long-time players are pretty chill and happy to help out newer ones. Mods are active, alert, and help players maintain RPG MO’s safe and positive atmosphere. Ask for aid or guidance, and someone will chime in. Teamwork and self-sufficiency is encouraged, dependency and entitlement is not.
Nowadays, I usually play RPG MO alongside doing something else – browsing forums, working (no one tell my Manager, shush), or playing another, more “involved” game. Starting out, gaining levels in skills is quick and easy, and newbie mistakes (e.g. accidental deaths) aren’t penalized too heavily. As players start to reach levels 80-ish, gains begin to grow more slowly, so some peepos multi-task the game while grinding levels. Other players might participate in the game’s more active, uh, activities, like party quests, bossing, and scavenger hunts (during special events throughout the year)
…
'Tis a patient, slow burn sorta game. Wouldn’t recommend it to peepos looking for action-packed, instant gratification. Would recommend it for peepos that like a good grind, or want to relive old-school multiplayer nostalgia.
/m00
8 Likes
I’ve been playing Horizon Zero Dawn for a while now, and while I haven’t finished the story yet, I fell in love with the game, the sad yet somewhat optimistic and cheerful vibe that the game conveys is wonderful, showing the old ruins of past humanity (Or Current Time in the real world) and then presenting us with current civilization (In game), showing that humanity will endure no matter what is presented in such an awesome way, accompanied by beautiful scenery and music, this game is a masterpiece to say the very least.
6 Likes
Cities: Skylines
Tags: City Builder, Simulation, Sandbox, Resource Management, Casual
Got this game through a giveaway on LTT! From Origami Cactus, IIRC.
The base game regularly goes for $5 - $10 on Steam, Fanatical, IndieGala, EGS, etc. Humble offers discounts as well, usually bundled with Cities: Skylines DLCs or other games. Very worth the small change for hours of entertainment!
Building your city and solving its problems is pretty satisfying, and the game has a massive trove of community content. Most community mods seem to be aesthetics or new buildings, but a couple can correct minor inefficiencies (e.g. traffic routes) or make terraforming easier.
Smol peep at Mayor 'Chew’s town:
IDK what I’m doing, I just like straight lines. 
Bird’s Eye View
Water + Sewer Lines
Direction of the river’s current is important.
Draw in clean water from upstream, flush sewage downstream.
Residential Area - Daytime
Traffic
Reminds me of Malaysia, lmao.
Near the only bridge that leads into the island of Penang, there’s a toll booth.
It’s… yeah.
Commercial Area - Nighttime
6 Likes
I got the game for free on Epic a while back. Tried playing it not too long ago, then got frustrated and quit because I couldn’t figure out how to get the connection between my first road and the highway looking nice 
Haven’t given the game another try since, but it definitely looks like something that would be fun once you get far enough into it.
4 Likes
Project CARS 2. It’s really not like any other racing game I’ve played - so I guess I’ll have to invest into a racing wheel at some point.
4 Likes
I picked up Code Vein and Sword Art Online Lost Song on Steam through the Steam Summer sale just now, I’ve been up for some more MMORPG hack-and-slashes lately so the Summer Sale was a great time to pick them up!
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CODE VEIN! 
Played thru that game, and I enjoyed it greatly! Though I was never really any good at the combat.
- Character customization is incredibly extensive, at least, compared to Western RPGs – could also be a general JRPG thing, I know FFXIV, Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet, and the GOD EATER series all have very in-depth character customization, comparable to CODE VEIN’s.
- Character’s party can only have one additional companion, maximum. Venturing out into the world is a tad bit lonely.
- To avoid spoilers, all I’ll say about the narrative is that it’s very compelling, very non-linear.
- Combat, equipment, and skill development reminds me of Dark Souls.
For faults, all I can think of at the moment is the difficulty level (or I just plain suck, lol), and the limited replayability for NG+ (outside of gathering extra classes).
4 Likes
So I finally got undertale. After playing it for an hour or so, I’d say it feels more like I’m the one getting played.
5 Likes
Well, I just refunded a game on Steam for the first time ever. It was Project Cars 2. I thought I would enjoy a sim-racing game (a big departure from the arcade racers I normally play), but I just found that I wasn’t having that much fun with the game at all. I think it’s definitely a game I would like if I had a full-on sim racing setup with a wheel and pedals, but just playing the game with a controller wasn’t working for me. I found the physics to be unnecessarily challenging - having to slow to a near crawl to be able to round any corner without sliding completely off the track. I know it’s supposed to be realistic, but I don’t play video games for their realism. I play them to escape from reality and have some fun.
That’s not to say that I can’t have fun playing realistic games. I really enjoy Dirt Rally 2.0, but there was just something different about Project Cars 2. Maybe it was the amount of time spent outside of races in the game - be it practice runs, qualifiers, or fiddling with various settings and tuning my car pre-race. When I play a racing game, I just want to get straight into the action. And Project Cars 2 just wasn’t doing that for me. The bottom line is I just don’t have enough free time to spend playing a game for an hour to only get through one race. Maybe if I got further into the game I would have liked it, but for me first impressions on a game mean a lot, and Project Cars 2 didn’t leave a very good one - granted that’s just my opinion based on the style of games I like.
On the other hand, I’ve been really enjoying Undertale! It’s been a while since I’ve been so emotionally invested in the story of a game. The decisions you make in the game feel so real and impactful, and the storytelling is done so incredibly well. It is far and away one of the best games I’ve played in a long time, and I don’t know why it took me so long to give the game a shot.
5 Likes
Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark
Tags: Tactical Turn-Based RPG
I’m going into this blind!
All I know is, Fell Seal’s combat system resembles Fire Emblem’s. Move your units across an isometric chessboard, fel the opponents’ side, and complete your designated objective (which isn’t always “Defeat the Enemy,” at least, not in Fire Emblem).
There’s a limited amount of character customization, in that, the player can customize the appearances / classes, and control the stat growth of non-story Guild henchmen, but story characters have mostly fixed appearances and classes.
Difficulty level is also surprisingly customizable. Rather than fixed “Easy, Normal, Hard” modes, specific game mechanics may be adjusted to the player’s liking – injury / death / permadeath mechanics, weighted RNG, enemy stat bonuses / penalties, enemy equipment + item abundance / usage, etc.
The game blipped on my radar a few years back; it’s was very well-received in the months following its launch, but was a bit hmmm at $29.99 asking price. Buuut (:test) yesterday, Fanatical had a 24-hour flash sale on Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark – the entire game plus its DLC for $13, give or take a couple’a cents – and I grabby-grabby’d it real quick-like.
I also bought GreedFall (also from Fanatical) a while back but…
I haven’t touched it yet, lmao.
Anyways, I played through maybe two hours of it yesterday, and I’m enjoying it thus far!
Would recommend Fire Emblem fans to give it a shot. Getting the impression it’s a “slow burn” sorta game – the beginning ramps up slowly but steadily, compared to Fire Emblem, which thrusts the player right into the story.
4 Likes
I’m not normally the kind of person who plays rhythm games (outside of VR titles like Beat Saber), but this one caught my eye due to its interesting mechanics and great song selection. It has a nice mix of varying styles of electronic songs, many of which I already knew prior to playing the game.
The gameplay consists of rotating a wheel to line up the correct colors and hit the notes that are flying towards you. Most of the notes will play automatically when they hit the wheel, but some require you to click the mouse to properly time it. The keyboard/mouse controls are very comfortable, and I was able to catch on to the game very quickly. However, the songs don’t feel too easy to the point of not being fun. Below is a video of me attempting one of the songs on hard difficulty. Hard mode introduces special green notes which are hit with the space bar instead of the mouse, and I’m still getting used to having to use more than one hand to play the game. Most of my mess-ups occur when those green bars come along…
Overall, I’ve really enjoyed the game so far, and would definitely recommend it if you enjoy rhythm games, or are interested in dipping your toes into the genre. It has a large number of songs to choose from, and the devs are always listening to community input on what they should add next.
The game is currently in early access on Steam, and there’s a Switch version on the way. I believe it’s planned to launch on the Switch once the game leaves early access in its next major update.
4 Likes
I recently picked up the remainder of the Senran Kagura series apart from Reflexions and Peach Ball.
I’ve been putting plenty of playtime into Peach Beach Splash specifically, it’s a different style of game to the usual hack-and-slash motif of the main Senran Kagura instalments.
3 Likes
Games that I have been playing recently:
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Xeno Crisis: a retro style arcade arena shooter (that’s at least what all the describtions say. Although I’ve only managed to get to the second boss so far it’s still fun. I wouldn’t say it’s a game I enjoy playing for hours but one or two hours definetly.
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Goat Simulator: Where do I start? Well you are a goat and do very typical goat things like… causing property damages worth millions of dollars.
3 Likes